New England Revolution vs. Real Salt Lake | MLS Match Preview

The New England Revolution return home to face Real Salt Lake in an interconference clash on Wednesday evening at Gillette Stadium. The Revolution are coming off a scoreless draw last Thursday in Portland, their second consecutive shutout. Real finished a three-game homestand over the weekend, winning for the second time in a 2-0 victory against Vancouver at Rio Tinto Stadium.

The New England Revolution recorded a second consecutive shutout, this team playing to a scoreless draw with the Portland Timbers on Thursday evening at Jeld-Wen Field. The Revolution are in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with 9 points from 8 matches.

LAST MATCH

Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth was credited with nine saves in keeping the clean sheet, seven of them coming in the second half.

Timbers goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts turned in a stellar performance of his own, making three saves.

Highlights: POR 0, NE 0

Revolution head coach Jay Heaps made two changes to the team that defeated Philadelphia Union 2-0 at Gillette Stadium. Bilal Duckett and Darrius Barnes came into the back four for Andrew Farrell and the suspended Chris Tierney.

The Revolution have kept back-to-back shutouts and recorded five in eight games this season following the scoreless result at Portland. They have allowed 6 goals in 8 games, the second-best defensive record in MLS.

“We were getting stretched some there because we still went with five guys up front with Saer [Sene] and Kelyn [Rowe] and Lee [Nguyen] getting forward,” said Revolution head coach Jay Heaps. “Unfortunately we didn’t finish those chances and they made some breaks on us.”

INTERVIEW: Heaps on Portland draw

Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth made a career-high nine saves in the scoreless draw, his second consecutive shutout and third this season. Matt Reis had also recorded two in goal for the Revs.

“It’s the second game in a row he’s played really well. It’s not an easy environment. I think he’s reading the game well,” said Heaps. “It wasn’t like he was making spectacular saves, but he was making saves because of being in the right position, which is better than a spectacular save for me.”

The nine saves matched the single-game high in MLS this season, along with the nine saves recorded by Toronto FC’s Joe Bendik in a 1-1 draw with Philadelphia on April 13.

Recalled from his loan to the USL Rochester Rhinos just the day before kickoff, Bilal Duckett started at right back for the injured Andrew Farrell in his first MLS appearance since 2011, when he played four games for Vancouver.

“It’s real important to battle and get a point like we did in Seattle earlier this season. ...It’s been a crazy week,” said Duckett. “I couldn’t be happier to be up here. It’s exciting to get out here and rejoin the guys. It was a little bit tough jumping right back in but it was more exciting to play.”

Darrius Barnes also made his first league appearance of the season, coming in at left back for Chris Tierney. Tierney was suspended for the match following a ruling by the MLS Disciplinary Committee for an incident during the Philadelphia match.

“I think we were super-organized in the back tonight: we all kept our lines, kept our shape and were able to keep a clean sheet,” Shuttleworth said. “I think it shows the depth we have on this team. Jay [Heaps] has done a great job of creating the competition and creating depth. You can see guys are coming in and doing really well. We aren’t missing a beat.”

REAL SALT LAKE

Real Salt Lake concluded a three-game homestand with a second victory, recording a 2-0 win against Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Saturday evening at Rio Tinto Stadium. RSL sits in a tie for second place in the Western Conference with 14 points from 10 games.

LAST MATCH

RSL took the lead two minutes into the second half. From an goal kick, Nick Rimando opted for a quick restart and hit the ball into space 60 yards upfield to an open Joao Plata. He then bent a beautiful ball to the center of the box where Luis Gil timed his run to perfection headed it in off the right post.

Whitecaps FC nearly leveled terms in the 62nd minute when Corey Hertzog's final touch from a long ball snuck past Rimando and was headed toward the net before a sliding Nat Borchers cleared it off the line.

Highlights: RSL 2, VAN 0

Real hit for the insurance goal in the 71st minute. Plata again played provider, delivering a cross into the area that Javier Morales tucked away with a professional finish into the bottom left corner.

RSL head coach Jason Kreis made two changes to the team that dropped a 2-0 decision to the LA Galaxy at Rio Tinto Stadium. Chris Wingert came into the back four for Lovel Palmer, and Devon Sandoval returned to the team for Olmes Garcia.

Despite having yet to put together back-to-back wins this season, Real now find themselves in a tie for second place in the West, six points behind leaders FC Dallas. RSL heads to New England off a 2-1-0 homestand.

“We should feel good about it, at least for overnight. We wake up tomorrow, and we focus on the next game,” said RSL head coach Jason Kreis. “For me, it was very good, but we need to build off of it – there’s still room for improvement, and we’re going to need improvement if we’re going to get results in the next two matches on the road.”

After going six games without a shutout, Nick Rimando recorded a second clean sheet in three games, his third of the season. He now has 102 for his MLS career, 10 behind all-time leader Kevin Hartman.

Rimando also contributed an assist for the seventh time in his MLS career, his long ball leading to the RSL opener.

WATCH: Star Wars Night at Rio Tinto

“That's one of the big reasons, and there's a lot of reasons we like Nick Rimando, but one of the big reasons I like him is how good he is with his feet,” head coach Jason Kreis said. “He can often times start counterattacks for us and make good tactical decisions with the ball when he has it. He can be a real steadying influence for us because we always feel like we have an extra man to pass back to. Kudos to him, and what a great, great pass.”

Said Rimando: “I take a lot of pride in that. I think having an extra man back there and having the players confident in you, to play you and not just to give the ball back to the other team, is a big luxury for sure, and I think they recognize that and that's the way we play. Sometimes you can't be too fancy back there and hit some long balls, but today worked out. It worked out in a good way and in points we needed.”

Joao Plata set up both RSL goals in their 2-0 home win against Vancouver over the weekend, moving him into a tie for the MLS assist lead with four for the season, along with KC’s Graham Zusi.

“He was very similar to all the players. In the first half, he was pretty darn rusty – gave away a lot of balls. In the second half, things opened up – I thought he made a lot better decisions with the ball,” said Kreis. “We had a chat at halftime about how important it was to us. In the first half, he and Devon started off pretty rough in the match, but got better as the game wore on.”

Chris Wingert made his first appearance of the 2013 season, coming in at left back, after suffering a fractured foot in the offseason.

“I was really pleased to have him out there. He’s a steady influence on the rest of the group, and was in some really good spots – to intercept passes and not have to make many one-on-one defensive plays,” said Kreis. “He made some really nice tackles, and that’s important for a guy to be able to do that. We’re really pleased to have him back, and pleased with his performance tonight.”

INTERVIEW: RSL's Kreis after win vs. VAN

Devon Sandoval returned to the starting lineup after a three-match absence and played the full 90 minutes for the first time as a professional.

“I think that Devon struggled. In the beginning of the game, I think he just got a little too emotional about things,” said Kreis. “We were just so hyped up because I really challenged our forwards to try to score goals tonight, and perhaps put a little undue pressure on them. ... He’s a first-year player that needs to be trying to improve in matches, and he’ll go through good times and bad times.”

RSL’s Kyle Beckerman committed one foul in the 2-0 win Saturday vs. Vancouver. He has now committed 472 for his MLS career, just five away from all-time league leader Jesse Marsch – the Impact’s coach for their inaugural MLS season.